Judaism is the original of the three Abrahamic faiths, which also includes Christianity and Islam, there were around 13.1 million Jewish people in the world in 2007, most residing in the USA and Israel.

According to the 2001 census 267,000 people in the UK said that their religious identity was Jewish, which is about 0.5% of the population.

Judaism originated in the Middle East over 3500 years ago.

Jews believe that there is only one God with whom they have a covenant.

Jews believe that God appointed the Jews to be his chosen people in order to set an example of holiness and ethical behaviour to the world.

Jewish life is very much the life of a community and there are many activities that Jews must do as a community. (For example, the Jewish prayer book uses WE and OUR in prayers where some other faiths would use I and MINE).

Jews also feel part of a global community with a close bond Jewish people all over the world. A lot of Jewish religious life is based around the home and family activities.